The electric grid

A first-of-its-kind energy-storage system has been added to the grid in the UK. The 5MW / 15MWh system stores energy in an unusual way: it uses excess electricity to cool ambient air down to -196°C (-320°F), where the gases in the air become liquid. That liquid is stored in an insulated, low-pressure container. When there's a need for more electricity on the grid, the liquid is pumped back to high pressure where it becomes gaseous again and warmed up via a heat exchanger. The hot gas can then be used to drive a turbine and produce electricity. Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), you're right. LAES takes filtered ambient air and stores it so it can be used to create electricity later, just like CAES. But LAES liquifies the air rather than compressing it, which creates an advantage in storage. Compressed-air storage usually requires a massive underground cavern, but LAES just needs some low-pressure storage tanks, so it's more adaptable to areas that don't have the … [Read more...] about Liquid-air energy storage: The latest new “battery” on the UK grid

By John Barber Special to the Star Thu., Sept. 28, 2017 It’s not as though Calgary entrepreneur Brent Harris set out to take on Elon Musk and beat the legendary innovator at his own game. “That’s not our mission,” Harris says of Eguana Technologies, the company he founded 15 years ago to bring green energy systems to remote, off-grid locations. “But,” he adds, sounding more surprised than proud, “it certainly is the situation at this time.” Musk’s Tesla Inc. first announced its Powerwall home battery system in 2015 amid heady expectations. Energy storage promised to take home solar systems mainstream, to save householders money, if not make them independent of the conventional grid altogether. According to the hype, what the Tesla electric car did to the automotive industry, the Tesla Powerwall would do to the electrical system. But full production of the unit still awaits the completion of a Tesla … [Read more...] about New technologies lead Edison-era electricity grid into the future

For three years, Tesla’s Model X has run unopposed in the all-electric SUV race. Established automakers have shown concepts and promised production models to unseat the upstart EV, but we have yet to see a finished challenger – until now. At last month’s Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar unveiled its 2019 I-Pace – a 240-mile, all-electric SUV slated for production later this year. Jaguar’s first EV will also be the first vehicle of its kind to be sold through traditional dealer networks. Like the Model X, the I-Pace features a low-slung silhouette that loosely satisfies the “SUV” or “crossover” ride height requirements. Jaguar says the I-Pace can replenish 80 percent of its 90 kWh battery in just 40 minutes via DC fast charging. With 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque, the dual-motor, all-wheel drive I-Pace surges to 60 mph in a F-Type-rivaling 4.5 seconds. Thanks to its low center of gravity, it handles exceptionally well, too … [Read more...] about That’s a Jag? How the electric I-Pace broke the brand out of its own box

Over the past couple of months, Europeans have noticed time slipping away from them. It’s not just their imaginations: all across the continent, clocks built into home appliances like ovens, microwaves, and coffee makers have been running up to six minutes slow. The unlikely cause? A dispute between Kosovo and Serbia over who pays the electricity bill. To make sense of all this, you need to know that the clocks in many household devices use the frequency of electricity to keep time. Electric power is delivered to our homes in the form of an alternating current, where the direction of the flow of electricity switches back and forth many times a second. (How this system came to be established is complex, but the advantage is that it allows electricity to be transmitted efficiently.) In Europe, this frequency is 50 Hertz — meaning a current alternating of 50 times a second. In America, it’s 60 Hz. Since the 1930s, manufacturers have taken advantage of this feature to … [Read more...] about Clocks are running slow across Europe because of an argument over who pays the electricity bill

German car manufacturer Audi has announced it will carry out a trial project for a new Smart Energy Network in its home city of Ingolstadt and the Zurich area. The Smart Energy Network is a system comprising stationary batteries (installed somewhere like your garage) which get their power from solar panels on the roof of your home.The batteries can then be used to power your home or charge your electrified Audi. So far, it sounds similar to systems from Nissan and even IKEA that store generated power for use when the sun goes away. But Audi's system is a little different, because it not only uses software to work out the expected needs of the home, car or even a heating system, and send power where its needed most, but it also talks to the power grid to send power back.Audi's Smart Energy Network would charge up the car for example, while also filling up the stationary battery, then if the house doesn't require so much energy, the battery can feed its stored power back into the … [Read more...] about Audi’s Smart Energy Network will lower your reliance on the power grid